Public Procurement and Property
Business in the Parliament Conference 2023
February 6, 2023 by Melissa Reilly No Comments | Category Procurement news, SMEs, Stakeholder events, Sustainable Procurement
We want public procurement in Scotland to be Good for Businesses and their Employees, and Open and Connected. To demonstrate our commitment to these outcomes, on Friday 3 February, a ‘Procurement’ workshop was hosted at the 15th Business in the Parliament conference.
The theme of 2023’s conference was ‘Sustainable Recovery: Maximising the Opportunities of the Next Decade’.
“Hosted jointly by the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government, the Business in the Parliament conference aims to facilitate engagement between businesses and politicians.”
It was started by the Scottish Parliament’s then Enterprise & Culture Committee (now Economy and Fair Work Committee) with the aim of bringing the worlds of business and politics closer together.That ethos of encouraging dialogue and greater understanding between the two communities remains at the heart of the event.”
This year’s event was chaired by the Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone and featured speeches from:
- Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister
- Claire Baker, Convener of the Economy and Fair Work Committee
- Andrew Murphy, Chief Operating Officer of the John Lewis Partnership
Recordings of the main sessions can be viewed via the links below:
The ‘Procurement’ workshop at the conference was co-chaired by Ms Maggie Chapman, Scottish Green Party MSP, North East Scotland; Mr Colin Beattie, SNP MSP, Mid Lothian and Musselburgh; and Mr Tom Arthur MSP, Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth. The workshop was hosted by members of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES).
Workshop participants heard briefly from a panel of five who set the scene from differing private, public and third sector perspectives. The workshop then allowed participants to discuss opportunities relating to public procurement and agree priorities for the Scottish Parliament to take forward.
Topics covered included the need to drive more consistency in the local application of best policy and practice in sustainable procurement, creating local and inclusive spending policies, breaking down barriers for micros and small businesses, particularly for women and other minority-led businesses, and encouraging more participation earlier in procurement processes.
Other topics included the criticality of prompt payment practice through the supply chain, thinking outside the box and the need for businesses to be in it to win it, registering on Public Contracts Scotland and taking advantage of sources of support regards engaging and bidding for contracts.
Participants were encouraged to participate in the Community Wealth Building consultation, which is open until 25 April 2023.
We are committed to continuous improvement to ensure that procurement is Good for Businesses and their Employees and staying #OpenAndConnected by sharing our important news and policy updates on our Blog and social media channels – follow us via the links below.
Suppliers can also access free training and support on working with the public sector via the Supplier Development Programme.
For further information on public procurement in Scotland please visit www.gov.scot/procurement
Please email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot
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Tags: business, Business in the Parliament Conference, good for business, good for businesses and their employees, open and connected, sustainable procurement
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